Roller-support for movable doors and other objects.



No. 857,557. PATENTIEYD JUNRIB, 1907.

R D. E. HUNTER.

ROLLER SUPPORT FOR'MOVABLE DOORS AND OTHER OBJECTS.

APPLIQATION riLnn 1 213.15. 1907.

ll II I mm 1 m l5 ljjjflliqllllggl l l llllg imrrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID E. HUNTER, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO LIBRARY BUREAU, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION OF NEW JERSEY.

ROLLER-SUPPORT FOR MOVABLE DOORS AND OTHER OBJECTS.

Application filed February To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DAVID E. HUNTER, a citizen of the United States and a resident of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Roller-Supports for Movable Doors, &c., of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to roller supports for movable doors and other objects and more particularly rollers which travel upon lateral trunnions, and is adapted to enter into the construction of slides and drawers in furniture.

Roller carried drawers and slides are old in this art, and it is moreover an old device to provide rollers with trunnions upon the roll ers themselves traveling upon a short track, while the drawer which is supported upon the roller itself travels with a much greater traverse than the roller. In order to insure the durability and accuracy in operation of such articles of furniture, it has been customary to provide .metal plates or tracks upon which the antifriction rollers traveled, but these have been, so far as I am informed, simply open ways or tracks from which the escape of the roller itself was quite easy should the drawer be removed for the time being. Such roller supports as have heretofore been employed have furthermore required more or less woodworking and fitting which adds very materially to the expense of construction and myimprovements presently to be described are embodied in a roller sup port which can be very cheaply made. easily attached to wooden furniture without necessitating any accurate fitting and which form not only a support but a rotating casing or box for the rollers themselves.

In the drawings hereto annexed which illustrate an embodiment of my invention: Figure 1 is a view in perspective of one of the plates which form a part of my improved roller support; Fig. 2 shows in perspective a pair of such plates placed face to face and forming the complete roller support and easing Fig. 3 is an elevation of such a roller support showing the position of the roller therein; Fig. 4 shows partly in elevation and partly in cross section the mode of applying the roller support and roller to an article of Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 18, 1907.

16.1907. Serial No. 857,461.

furniture; and Fig. 5 is a cross sectional figure of Fig. 4 at the line 55.

The combined support and casing are made of two plates preferably of pressed or stamped steel. These plates I also prefer to make all exactly alike so that by taking any two a complete roller support and easing may instantly be assembled without any trouble in selection or fitting. These plates comprise a bridge portion A having therein a longitudinal slot O, the slot O being nearer one edge of the bridge than it is to the other so that the flat bar a is materially narrower than the bar a These plates have curved offsets or flanges formed at each end and are made with posts B each of which by reason of the curved Hanging at I) and b constitutes a-half round disk or hollow post. When two of such plates are placedface to face as shown in Fig. 2, the flanging at the ends of the plates coming into juxtaposition causes the two plates when so assembled to form a box or casing having space between the bridge portions A, A sufiicient to receive and constitute a housing for a roller, while the slots O, O permit the lateral trunnions on the roller to find a bearing and a track.

In Fig. 3 there is shown a roller R with its trunnions r placed in the housing formed by the two plates A, A. By reason of the fact that the bar a is narrower than the bar a one edge of the roller R projects about the top of the bridge A, while the opposite side of the roller does not project below the bridge but is wholly contained in the space between the two bridge members A, A.

In Fig 4, D represents a portion of a cabinet or other article of furniture and E a part of a drawer adapted to slide in the cabinet. Holes as at d are bored in the member D, these holes being of such size that when the two plates as shown in Fig. 1 or Fig. 2 are put together face to face, the posts B may be forced down into the hole (1 and make fairly tight fit therewith. The roller R is inserted between the two plates as in Fig. 3 below the posts B, B which press into the holes (1. On the drawer E, I provide a metal track E which I prefer to make in the form of a channel or U section bar with the sides of the U spaced apart and extending down far enough to embrace the bridge portions A, A of the roller support, which thus constitute guides for the drawer. By making all these metal parts of stamped or pressed steel, they are manufactured accurately but cheaply and when the roller support composed of two such plates is attached to an article of furniture, this may be done with a minimum of labor and expense but when done provides the manufacturer and user with a strong, convenient, accurate and durable support and housing for the antifriction rollers.

What I claim and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is:

1. A roller support consisting of a pair of plates, each in a single piece and formed with a slotted bridge portion flanked by post portions laterally offset from the bridge portion, the pair of plates placed face to face with the post portions in contact and the slotted bridge portions spaced apart by the offset post portions.

2. The combination with a roller support consisting of a pair of plates, each in a single piece formed with a slotted bridge portion flanked by post portions laterally ofi'set from the bridge portion, the pair of plates placed face to face with the post portions in contact and the slotted bridge portions spaced apart by the offset post portions, of a roller provided with lateral trunnions resting in the said slotted bridge portions.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, I

this 13th day of February, 1907.

DAVID E. HUNTER. Witnesses:

CHARLES D; WOODBERRY, JosEPH T. BRENNAN. 

